The Sparrow Girl
by FemaleOfTheSpecies
Summary: The Sparrow family have a secret, but Cutler Beckett has discovered it & decided to use her as a bargaining chip. What happens when she ends up saving him from the battle that destroys HMS Endeavour? Does Cutler have a back up plan?
1. Her brother's eyes

Being stolen away in the middle of the night by a tall stranger dressed all in black was the stuff of many women's daydreams, but Cecily had discovered the hard way that there was nothing romantic or exciting about being kidnapped. It had happened ever so quickly - one minute she was sleeping soundly, the next she was jostled awake by a man she didn't recognise covering her face with a rag covered in some foul smelling chemical.

She had regained consciousness to find her hands bound behind her back and cloth pulled tightly over her eyes and across her mouth, digging into her lips. A sack or cloth bag had been pulled over her head, and in her panic she hadn't been able to catch her breath. It was clear that she was in the back of some kind of cart as it was being jostled around as it moved. She had fallen forward from her seat, colliding with the man, her kidnapper. He'd pulled the bag off of her head to stop her hyperventilating, grabbed her upper arm roughly and taken the back of his hand to her face when she struggled in his grip. 'Don't try anything daft' he warned before pushing her back into her seat.

She had remained quiet and still then. She knew enough about men who kidnapped women to not ignore his warning. She'd heard stories, and she had a bad feeling she was about to become another one of them.

They'd ended up on a ship - it bobbed gently under foot and as she was led, blindfolded, into the belly of the hull. She had stumbled often until the man had taken to practically dragging her along behind him, before throwing her into a small room. Cecily was left there for hours.

She didn't like ships. They brought back horrible memories. Nothing good had ever come of being on a ship for Cecily. She trembled, waiting for whatever conclusion her ordeal might bring.

She wasn't normally one to cry but her desperate situation was an exception to normality. She didn't know who had snatched her as she slept, or why. She had no idea where she was or if the others at home even knew she was missing. Her situation petrified her as she knew that it was very rarely that situations like the one she was in ended well.

That's why Lord Beckett found her slumped in the corner of the storage room with tears silently running down her face and pooling together pathetically around her chin. She was oblivious to his presence. He stood there looking down at the girl sitting at his feet on the floor, contemplating what her presence on his ship could mean if the rumours were true and she really was who it was claimed she was.

It could be an enormous breakthrough for him, but he didn't want to get carried away. She didn't look like one of them, but there was only one way to find out for sure. He slowly bent down in front of her, pausing for a second to take in her face from his new vantage point.

Her skin was damp with tears, and her dark blonde hair had fallen loose from where it was held at the back on her head, a few strands had sticking to her damp cheeks. He reached forwards and pulled the fabric away from her eyes, letting it hang around her neck.

She flinched from him, back colliding with the crates stacked around her. The harsh light from the lantern in his hand hurt her eyes causing her to quint. She blinked a few times before she was able to focus on him and they stared at one another in a silence broken only by her panicked breathing.

Cutler drank in her chocolate eyes. He was searching for something, anything that might give him the answer he was seeking. Her eyes were lovely but all he saw in them was fear and panic. He let that thought disappear and reached forwards and allowed the material that covered her mouth to fall around her neck with the piece that had covered her eyes. The young woman flinched away from his hand and inhaled deeply before turning to look back at the him. Beckett's eyes took in her bloody lip before returning to those eyes,

"Hmm… well, you certainly have your brother's eyes"

The tension-filled silence that had filled the room was broken by his remark. "My brother has his own eyes" she whispered harshly, unable to make her voice any louder. Cutler smiled slightly at her comment - it was the answer he was looking for. "You don't deny that you are Cecily Sparrow?" he questioned.

"I don't" she replied, a brief look of worry passing over her face.

His stomach fluttered as the possibilities danced through his mind. "How delightful" he whispered with a menacing tone to his voice. She was his now, and Jack Sparrow would be putty in his hands. She was his. The battle was won. The Sparrow girl would lead him to glorious victory.

Cutler realised he was eyeing her as though she were a new sword - it was very unbecoming of a gentleman and so he reached forwards to place the material across her eyes, but Cecily dodged his hand by pulling away from his reach.

"Where am I?" she demanded from him, her voice cracking as she tried to speak with authority, "Who are you?"

Cutler opened his mouth to respond, but the door to the room opened and Mercer interrupted him. "Lord Beckett, they're waiting" he called, holding the door open expectantly. Cecily's eyes widened as she recognised his voice. She was also sure she recognised that name… Beckett…

"Very good" Cutler replied before turning to look back at Cecily who was looking from Mercer to him and back again with fear and confusion.

"Miss Sparrow, to answer your questions, you are aboard HMS Endeavour, I am Lord Beckett. We have brought you aboard to assist with our negotiations with the pirate lords."

Cecily closed her eyes, lowering her head as realisation sunk in. "You're making a mistake..."

There was real fear in her voice and it threw Cutler slightly. Was he making a mistake?

No. He knew this would work. Cutler replaced the rag in her mouth, but it didn't stop her pleading at him with those dark eyes of hers, _you're making a mistake... _He shook the doubt from his head as he made his way across the room towards Mercer. He paused on his way out, turning to look at his assistant who was eyeing the girl with a mixture of disgust and amusement.

"Mercer, show Miss Sparrow to my office. There is much to be discussed once I have finished addressing the officers." Mercer nodded, not removing his eyes from the girl who was staring right back at him. "Good man. Oh-" Beckett paused once more and turned to look at the other man who glanced back at his master "be sure to do it without hitting her this time, yes?"

※※※※ ※※※※ ※※※※

Cecily wondered how Lord Beckett had discovered who she was and where she was. Ever since her… escape, she'd kept a lid on her real identity. She couldn't think of anyone who would have let it slip. Unless, of course, she was a really bad judge of character. _'You can't trust those who don't owe you something'_ Jack had once told her, and perhaps he was right? Perhaps she had been worth more to someone as a pay off in exchange for a tip, than she had been worth as a friend or colleague?

...and now she was to be _used in negotiations_ with Pirate Lords. Of all the people on the planet that she would rather not get involved with, they were on the top of the list. Whoever had tipped Beckett off about the fact she was hiding under a false name and working with Doctor Moore as an assistant had clearly not known why she'd come to be in that situation in the first place.

That ruled out Doctor Moore and his wife, at least. That made her feel a bit better, but it didn't make her current situation any better. She was in big trouble. She sat there, is a comfortable ornate chair, watching Lord Beckett signing papers on his desk. She had been there for a while with her arms tied to the arms of the chair, forced to watch him work as he made a point of pretending she wasn't there.

She longed for a comb to run through her hair and could only imagine how awful she looked. Cecily Sparrow wasn't a vain person, but it was nice to look tidy and clean when meeting new people – even if they'd had you drugged and kidnapped from your bed by one of their henchmen as you slept.

She glanced down at her nightdress which was spoilt from the journey she had been forced to take by the man named Mercer. Her bare feet were cut and dirt. She longed for a bath, but knew it was something that she would probably never have again. That should have made her feel sad, but instead an emptiness welled up inside her. It made her want to cry out, but she had a good feeling that if she were to vocalise how she felt, it would have pleased Lord Beckett, and she did _not _want to please him. .

Lord Beckett put the quill pen down and leaned back in his chair, observing her over steeped fingers. She would have liked to have mimicked his body language, but he had insisted on having her hands tied to the arms of her chair. She made eye contact with Lord Beckett who was watching her silently and, preferring to not stare back at him, she glanced to her left and was able to see the sea stretched out all the way to the horizon through the large window that allowed the setting sun to warm the cabin they were seated in.

She didn't feel calmed or warmed by the sun though. She felt… doomed. She felt alone... and in considerate pain considering the blood supply to her hands was being cut off by Mercer's less-than-considerate knots.

"My Lord, is it your wish that my hands should fall off before you try to trade me with pirates as though I were a piece of cloth?" she asked, suddenly.

"There is one thing that puzzles me about you", he spoke in a casual voice, as though they were friends at lunch and as though she hadn't just asked him a question.

"Just one?" Cecily replied tartly. Beckett raised an eyebrow at her tone, with the hint of a smile playing around his mouth. "Why were you hiding in London under a false name?" He wouldn't stop staring but she stared right back, through with caring what he thought of her behaviour.

"Some would say I wasn't hiding, that I had started a new life-"

"You were hiding, and I cannot help but wonder why Teague would send his daughter away and not keep her in the safety of Shipwreck cove?"

"You know of Shipwreck?" Cecily was surprised and her question caused a smug expression to spread across Beckett's face. "There is a lot I know about your family that might surprise you" he replied.

Cecily cocked her head slightly, considering her answer. "He believes that I am dead. He ordered me to be killed." Cutler stared at the girl, all hints of a smile leaving his face entirely. She stared openly back, her face just as blank. She was lying of course. Or, if not, she was spelling out the flaw in his plan that he hadn't considered. Could Teague really think his daughter dead?

"Why?"

The tension in the room was noticeable as Beckett hung off of her every move, her every unspoken word. Cecily inhaled deeply, casting her eyes down at her feet. "Perhaps if you were to untie my hands I could explain?"

Beckett laughed, "You are a Sparrow. I've learned not to trust your family", Cecily raised an eyebrow in thought "I suppose that's wise…" she said after considering his statement for a second or two. "My father first tried to kill me when I was twelve, I was going to show you the scar on my neck where he sliced my throat open… but..." Cecily raised her chin slightly nevertheless, attempting the expose her throat to to prove that she was telling the truth.

Beckett sat forward, gazing at her neck intently but he couldn't make out any scars, "I don't see anything" he replied sceptically. Cecily lowered her head back down and smiled slightly "take a closer look..", but the skeptical expression remained on his face and she shrugged, "Fair enough, but you shouldn't let all Sparrows scare you so much-"

"You don't scare me" he spat out but Cecily simply shrugged again. Cutler studied her face as she stared back at him, not quite knowing what to make of her. Cecily Sparrow seemed harmless enough, but there was something about her he couldn't quite put his finger on. He certainly didn't trust her – not with the blood she had running through her veins, but he stood up from his chair regardless, and made his way around the desk towards her; both out of curiosity and to show her that she didn't intimidate him.

He came to a stop in front of her with his desk now standing behind him. Cecily gazed up at him, unsure what to say or do now that he was so close. Lord Beckett abruptly reached forwards and grabbed hold of her chin and tilted her head backwards to reveal the scars that she had spoken of. She noticed how soft his hands were against her skin. She had expected calluses, perhaps.

Cutler saw that the skin of her neck was pale and flawless right up to the puckered scarring that sat there like a permanent necklace. The scars were pale and white but at one time they had been a serious wound. Somebody had slashed at her neck with a blade from right to the left and the scars were deeper to the right side of her neck and got lighter as they travelled across, indicating that whoever had made the cut had started off with quite some force and had then eased off – or had been dragged off.

"Jack stopped him before he could do any permanent damage" she whispered, pulling her face away from his hand. "He always used to lash out after drinking." Beckett stood still as he stared down at her. It was almost too much for him to take in – his relationship with his own father had been an emotionless one, but he couldn't quite imagine a father lashing out at his own child.

"That's why you were hiding?"

Cecily's head snapped back up to look Cutler in the eye, "I wasn't hiding. I was creating a new life. Jack took me to Doctor Moore after it happened… and he helped me recover and took me under his wing."

There was a silence. An awful, tense silence. Lord Beckett was towering over Cecily, inches away from her face. "You surely understand why your negotiations will fail now, correct?" she asked, attempting to break the awkwardness of the situation. Trying to make him see sense of the facts. Trying to make him see she was not his token to the victory he wanted.

"Why would he try to kill his own daughter?"

"Your plan won't work. You've stolen me away from my home for nothing" Cecily's voice was getting louder, the hollowness filling with anger.

"Why did he try to kill you?" Beckett insisted, furrowing his brow.

"Did you hear what I said? We're all going to die and it's your doing!" Cecily shouted.

In one swift movement Beckett had moved forwards, a hand either side of Cecily on the arms of the chair, closing the space between them. She leant backwards instinctively but there were mere centimetres between them.

"Miss Sparrow, never underestimate me. Your lunatic of a father and his intention to kill you will not stop me from destroying the pirate lords. I have the Dead Man's Chest. I command these seas and I will destroy all of the pirates. All o them! Now, be a good girl, and answer my question. Why does your father want you dead?"

His voice was just a whisper but the look in his eyes and the steel edge to his voice scared Cecily. She turned her head and stared at the floor "Why does it matter? Isn't it enough to know that he feels that way?". Lord Beckett gently yet firmly grasped her jaw and chin in his palm and forced her to look at him directly. "Why?"

There was a pause in which Cecily realised it really didn't matter if he knew. "I look like my mother. He used to say it killed him to see her when she was dead. He couldn't cope with it."

He did not move and Cecily wondered if he was going to hurt her. The intensity in his face made it unreadable. She hoped he wasn't going to hurt her. "I used to hide" she continued, not sure why she was telling him this, not sure if it would make a difference. "Jack used to make me hide so he wouldn't see me. When I turned eighteen I was going to run away, but you can't avoid Pirate Lords at Shipwreck. Especially him. It's impossible."

Beckett still didn't move or break his stare. His breath tickled her chin and for the first time she felt truly scared of the man that she was alone with. It was a surprise, then, when the rope holding her left arm eased its grip and dropped to the floor, followed by the rope around her right arm. She looked at her hands as she moved them into her lap, and then looked back up at him leant back from his imposing position over her, leaning on the desk behind him.

"Your father…" he commented, "is a lunatic". Cecily bit her lip slightly at his comment, "yes" she replied, "but he's also one of the most feared pirates on the seas. He will kill me, his own flesh and blood and then without a pause he will kill you and every man in your Armada if he stands with the other Pirate Lords at his side.."

Beckett narrowed his eyes thoughtfully, an unreadable look on his face, "not if I kill them first".

**A/n: Please note that this story is being revised and rewritten. It may be best to start again even if you have already read it.**


	2. Cecily's doom

"You're mad!"

The exclamation had earned Cecily a dark look from Lord Beckett but it didn't bother her because she truly believed he was insane. For days the atmosphere aboard The Endeavour had been lively. It was clear that they were preparing for something on deck – something big. They were preparing for a battle. The biggest battle any of them would ever see.

Cecily was kept prisoner in Beckett's office with her wrists tied to the leg of his writing desk via a long length of rope. They'd found her a pretty dress to wear instead of her grubby nightgown. She didn't want to think where the clothing had come from. It flared out from her hips slightly, but looked odd with just her bare, bruised feet sticking out from beneath it, with no shoes to match it It all felt comical, really. She was tied to the desk of one of the most powerful men in the world, dressed up like a doll and being led to her death.

Cecily had hoped that the revelation about her family to Cutler would have persuaded him to take alternate action to achieve his goals but he felt the current plans were justified and, despite her insistence that her father didn't care if she was dead or alive, Cutler seemed to still be convinced that she was the trick that would make the Brethren surrender.

It wasn't that Cecily cared about Lord Beckett - he'd had her kidnapped, after all. However, she couldn't ignore the injustice of hundreds of men being led to their death by a man too proud to know when he was wrong. It made her feel sick just thinking about it.

It wasn't until the fifth day of her captivity that Beckett had entered the office during the afternoon to unveil the true extent of what was happening. Cecily had been sitting cross legged on the floor of the cabin, staring at the wall just below the large window when Beckett entered the room alone. He removed his hat from his head and wandered slowly over to the window so that he was in her line of vision.

Yet, instead of staring out at the ocean around them he turned his attention to the young woman sat on the floor of his office. "I've come to inform you that it is time for your role in our negotiations with the brethren."

She responded by simply closing her eyes. It was fair to say that she had given up any hope of escaping the ship. She'd realised that the best she could hope for was that her death wasn't too painful. Beckett was surprised by her response. He had expected more curiosity from her.

"Do you not care to know what is to happen to you?", "only that it won't hurt too much and will be quick" she replied immediately.

Beckett smiled slyly at her morbid response; he found it amusing that she was so sure she was to die, but she was too valuable for him to allow that to happen just yet. "I can assure you that you will not die. You are to accompany me to a meeting with the pirate king to discuss the oncoming battle where I will use you to negotiate their surrender."

She opened her eyes at this and her brow has creased, "Why do you think the pirate king would want to spare my life? I am nothing to the pirate k-"

"-but you are something to your brother, and I believe he will convince the king to spare you, to save his own flesh and blood…"

"-then you greatly misjudge my brother, and no pirate king elected would ever surrender battle with the likes of you, no matter how large your armada is."

"I have the Flying Dutchman under my control, and with this Armada they will not stand a hope in hell. It will be a desperate battle for them."

"The pirate lords are at their most dangerous when they are at their most desperate" Cecily scrambled to her feet and stared at Beckett as though he were talking in tongues. "You're backing them into a corner and you do not want to be around when they force themselves out of it. My Lord, you truly believe that I can be offered up as a white flag for them to use for their surrender?"

Beckett raised an eyebrow and approached the younger woman, "you know that is correct, Cecily"

"You're mad!" she exclaimed, trying to shove him away from her, but instead of moving away he brought his hand up and caught her fists in his hands and started to undo the knots that kept her captive.

"You're mad" she repeated, calmly watching his hands as they made quick work of the knots, "it's gone way beyond surrender. They don't know the meaning of it." The rope fell to the floor and Beckett caught hold of one of her hands before she could step away from him. It could almost have been a caring gesture if she'd known no better. Their eyes met, his gaze was confident and hers was questioning.

"When I release you, if you try to escape it would be a very unwise action on your part." There was no threat in his voice; he sounded sincere which caused Cecily to narrow her eyes. "We're going to die, why shouldn't I run outside and throw myself into the wretched ocean?"

Beckett swallowed, his eyes glancing down at her arm, "On deck at this very moment is Davy Jones, a… man your brother owes a serious debt. He knows you are here and who you are and I believe- no..." Beckett paused and observed her reaction. The colour had drained from her face and he knew he had her, "I am certain that if you were to run out there in an attempt to throw yourself overboard he would take great delight in seeking out his revenge on you for that debt. On my word he has promised not to harm you – but you are to stay with me at all times to ensure your safety. Do you understand?"

Cecily nodded and his hand moved from her wrist to her elbow he led her towards the door of the office. "I won't allow you to come to any harm" he assured her as they moved out onto the deck, crossing it towards a small group of men who were preparing one of the smaller boats. "How heroic of you to save me from the danger you put me in" she sighed as she took a moment to appreciate the breeze on her fact

There was a younger man with long dark hair in the boat already. He openly stared at Cecily as though she had two heads. Sitting next to him was a creature that made her blood run cold. Lord Beckett had not been lying. Davy Jones looked up at their approach and their eyes met briefly before Cecily looked away in fear.

"She doesn't look like a Sparrow t'me" Jones growled as Beckett forcefully guided her onto one of the wooden benches. "Actually, she has her brothers eyes..." Beckett commented distracted as Cecily gripped the sleeve of his jacket, her eyes trained on Jones wide with pure fear.

**A/n: This story is being rewritten and revised. It's best to reread it even if you've already started the story. **


	3. Damsel in distress

He could hear a sobbing coming from somewhere behind him and he could hear the sound of waves hitting the shore, but it didn't make sense as the last time he had gone ashore had been to face down Swan, Barbossa and Sparrow and he had returned to the ship after that.

Things had gone disastrously wrong for him and as he lay there,confused and aching, he recalled the anger he had felt when Sparrow refused to surrender in exchange for his sister. 'Didn't think kidnapping was your style, mate' Sparrow had slurred, his concerned eyes moving to his sister whose arm Cutler had been gripping to keep her at his side. He'd refused, told Beckett he'd made a mistake and then Swan, as elected Pirate King had called for them to battle.

It was coming back to him now...

They had gone to battle... but it had gone terribly wrong. Everything had changed, they hadn't fought fairly and The Endeavour had gone, so… why was he here? Cutler groaned slightly as he opened his eyes and was assaulted by bright sunlight. The sobbing noise stopped. He opened his eyes carefully a second time and rolled onto his side slowly. He was lying on sand, the crashing waves were in front of him and as he took them in he noted that the water was littered with debris. Twisted metal and large pieces of wood were lining the shore and his stomach sank when he realised they were from the Endeavour. Lying at his feet between him and the sea were his dark blue jacket and his boots. He was wearing just his shirt and trousers and both were soaking wet.

The ship had gone – it was there in front of him in pieces, and he had ended up in the water. So how was he there? He sat aghast, staring at the driftwood for a moment before he remembered the sobbing.

He wasn't alone.

He turned slowly, awkwardly, on what he assumed were bruised ribs and looked at the beach behind him where he came face to face with the Sparrow girl. Cecily. She was shivering as she knelt a few feet behind him, the green dress that some of the crew had found for her was sticking to her thin body and her hair was plastered flat against her head and the sides of her face. He could see from where he was led, twisted awkwardly on the sand, that her shivering lips were slightly blue and that salt crystals clung to her cheeks and clothes as he suspected they did to his too.

'I thought you were dead' she choked out finally, eyes wide as she openly stared at him. 'I... should be' he replied hoarsely, wincing as the words caught in his raw throat. He coughed but couldn't catch his breath.

He felt panic welling up in him as he struggled to breathe but suddenly, a shaky hand was placed on his back and a metallic canteen was brought to his mouth by the girl. 'Drink' she whispered, tipping the flask slightly and allowing cool water to fill his mouth. Cutler fumbled for the canteen with hands that he found were also shaking and took several more greedy gulps before Cecily snatched it back away from him, sitting on the sand to his left, her back facing the sea.

He glanced at her questioningly as he gasped in the air that his lungs had been craving. 'If you gulp it down like that you'll make yourself throw up' she explained. Minutes passed in silence before Cutler could stand it no further and broke it with the question that had been nagging him.

"What happened?"

Cecily had been staring at the sand beneath her feet as she hugged herself to try and get warm, at his question her head snapped up with a look of shock on her face.'You don't recall?'. Cutler shook his head, and Cecily swallowed, her eyes going back to the sand briefly before she glanced back up at him.

'Well, all I could hear was fighting, screaming… explosions. The sea was ferocious. I could feel it. The ship lurched to one side and water began to fill the room you had me in. 'I thought I was going to drown. I could hear people outside the door running around, I screamed at them to help but nobody would open the door. It got up to my chin before a something smashed through the side of the ship and knocked the door through. The corridor was a mess. There was… blood, everywhere.'

Cecily paused, swallowing, before continuing with her eyes closed this time. Cutler watched her intently. He had forgotten about her below decks. They'd just left her there to die.

'The ship was going down, I could tell from the way it was lurching forwards but I managed to get to the stairs and up onto the deck well enough, and that's where I found you." She opened her eyes and met his gaze. "Just... standing there. With your eyes all closed up just... waiting to die. I ran past you at first, I was going to jump into the sea and take my chances but-'

'-but you didn't, did you? You turned back to help me' he interrupted her and closed his eyes as he realised exactly what had happened. 'I couldn't leave you there. I ran back and tried to reason with you but you wouldn't listen to me. You just stared at me, grabbed hold of my arm. You were saying something about _good business _and you wouldn't let me go and so I sort dragged you to the side and pulled you over with me.'

Cutler opened his eyes again.

'You lost consciousness when we hit the water. The ship just exploded, so I just kept dragging you through the water as much as I could.' She bit her lip and Cutler turned away from her. There was silence as it sunk in. He had been saved by a Sparrow. He closed his eyes and sunk back onto the sand in disbelief.

※※※※ ※※※※ ※※※※

Cutler had sat exactly where he'd awoken, staring out to sea as Cecily had moved around him and along the shore. He presumed she was exploring the island they'd been washed up on and he knew it was probably the right thing to do, but he felt numb and, despite the voice at the back of his head telling him to take charge of the situation, he just sat there silently.

It wasn't until he heard the crackle of flames that he looked around and realised that the girl had cleverly managed to start a fire, a small fire yes, but a fire nonetheless. She was sitting next to it, her chin resting on her knees as she absent-mindedly poked at the kindling with a thick stick she had found. She was staring at the sand in front of her, but as he took in her dishevelled appearance she glanced up at him as though sensing his eyes on her. They stared at one another for a moment and then she spoke.

'Are you okay? I didn't want to disturb you…"

She looked back at the sand but he continued to stare at her and the fire, a strange and uncontrollable feeling spreading through his body. Not only had she rescued him as though he were a damsel in distress she had now built a fire to keep them warm when he should have done so.

He was the man and she was a woman. He was a lord, for crying out loud! He had authority, not her.

He wasn't aware that he had climbed to his feet. An irrational rage burned through his mind and clouded his thoughts. Suddenly he was standing in front of Cecily and her big scared eyes were looking up at him as he entangled his left hand into her hair just above her neck and pulled her up from where she sat on the ground, leaving her legs twisted awkwardly underneath her body. He leaned in so that his face was closer to her and roughly pulled her head back so that she was forced to look at him. One of her hands gripped his thigh as she tried take the weight off of her legs that were trapped beneath her. Her other hand met his own in her hair, trying to prise his fingers away.

"Stop it!'

"As if it isn't humiliating enough that you stopped me from going down with my ship, you're now acting as though you have authority over me" he hissed. Her hand scratched at his in an attempt to get him to release his grip on her hair, but he simply held onto her tighter, causing her to cry out with pain. 'You're nothing. You're worthless'

She lashed out at him, hitting his chest awkwardly with her arm. He caught her wrist and pinned it between then, pulling her head back further with the hand in her hair, causing her to overbalance. He was pulled forwards onto one of his knees, straddling her, with her back in the sand and his left hand pinning her right hand into the sand.

'Even your father wanted to kill you and your brother didn't care if I killed you. He had no idea what things I might do to you aboard the Endeavour and he still let me take you back. What use do you think you could possibly be to me?' She stopped struggling against his grip and stared at his chin mere inches away from her face with frightened eyes, unwilling or unable to meet his furious gaze. Her hands lay motionless either side of her head.

'I am not worthless' she whispered, 'I do not base my worth on my father or my brother and how much they care for me. I stopped caring about that a long time ago', she met his eyes momentarily before looking away again, 'you believing me to be worthless does not bother me. You've never considered me to be a person worthy of respect."

The calmness in her voice was betrayed by the way her body shook beneath him. The rage that had overcome him was ebbing away now, and he was aware of the position he had forced them into. He released his grip from her hands, sitting back so that he was no longer pinning her to the floor - something he hadn't been aware he was doing.

Cecily sat up and dragged herself away, standing up and moving away from him, eyeing him like one might a dangerous predator. "I'm sorry… I don't-" He felt almost dazed by what had just happened, he wasn't sure what had come over him.

"You scared me" she replied. "I thought you were going to-"

"No", he turned to look at her, sincerity in his voice as he addressed her, "I won't hurt you. I promise."

They stayed like that for some time. Her standing, not quite sure if he was going to strike again, and him sitting on the floor and looking at her, not quite able to look at her face. The two least likely allies who were hardly allies at all. Neither of them should have survived, and yet sheer determination had brought then to their current situation.

"What's going to happen to us?"

Cutler was dragged from his thoughts by her question and realised he didn't have an answer. 'I'm not sure' he told her. There was something about the honesty in his answer that reassured Cecily. She took a couple of steps towards him and sat down on the ground, turning her gaze towards the sea, black with the night.

"I remember how night time always seemed worse at Shipwreck. The dark sky made it feel like you're trapped there." Cutler watched her as she spoke, unsure of whether she was addressing him or not. "When I got away, the night sky became reassuring. It made it feel like there was so much space between them and me. Now I don't know how to feel."

Neither of them said anything, then Cecily broke the silence once more, "you look different without your wig" she pointed out. Cutler frowned at her. He was trying to formulate plans in his mind but she was distracting him.

There were so many questions and he didn't like not having answers. He wondered if it would be the first of many nights they would spend there, or whether there might be enough crew members left to form search parties. How far from the wreck were they? Was it likely the Brethren would search for survivors? Were there other survivors, or was it really just him and Cecily Sparrow?

and ...did he really look that different without the wig?


End file.
